''Mad Mad House'' is a 2004
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
series about a group of ten contestants competing for $100,000. The contestants live together in a house inhabited by another group of people known as the ''alts'' (for their
alternative lifestyle
An alternative lifestyle is a lifestyle perceived to be outside the norm for a given culture. The phrase "alternative lifestyle" is often used pejoratively. Description of a related set of activities as alternative is a defining aspect of certain ...
s). The alts voted the contestants off by judging them on their ability to perform "trials" which were based loosely on the practices of each alt's lifestyle, and their behavior and attitude with the other guests. The show aired on the
Sci Fi Channel in the United States and on
Space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
in Canada. Reruns have also been aired on
Fox Reality Channel.
Alts
*
Fiona Horne (The
Witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...
)
*
David "Avocado" Wolfe (The
Naturist)
* Art Aguirre (The
Modern Primitive
Modern primitives or urban primitives are people in developed, or modern nations who engage in body modification rituals and practices inspired by the ceremonies, rites of passage, or bodily ornamentation in what they consider traditional cultu ...
)
*
Don Henrie (The
Vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
)
* "Iya" Ta'Shia Asanti (The
Voodoo
Voodoo may refer to:
Religions
* African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups
* African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo
** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
Priestess)
Guests
Episode list
Eliminations table
;Color key
: – Trial Winner
Notes
*
: The Alts did not vote this episode, instead choosing to make the remaining guests vote for each other.
Critical response
David Bianculli of the ''
Daily News'' called ''Mad Mad House'' a "bad bad show" (a ''bon mot'' that other reviewers would also make). Comparing the series to previous ones produced by Smith and Weed, including ''
Paradise Hotel
''Paradise Hotel'' is an American reality television program. In the show, a group of singles live in a luxurious hotel resort, competing to see who can stay in the hotel the longest. Each week, the contestants pair off into couples, and must sh ...
'' and ''
Forever Eden
''Forever Eden'' is an American reality television series broadcast by the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox). The series premiered on March 1, 2004, and it concluded on April 9, 2004. The contestants in the series could live in a resort not for week ...
'', Bianculli pronounced ''Mad Mad House'' to be "their worst work yet". He mocked the contestants and berated the alts as "losers". Virginia Heffernan of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' found the series "unsettling" and "ghoulish" but wondered if it might lead middle America to examine the casualness of their religious beliefs. The premiere episode drew a
rating
A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both.
Rating or ratings may also refer to:
Business and economics
* Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...
of 1.57 million viewers.
In February 2004, the
National African Religion Congress sued the producers of ''Mad Mad House'' saying that it falsely represented Ta'Shia Asanti as a voodoo priestess. The group claimed that her dress identified her as a priestess of
Yemoja of the
Ifá
Ifá is a Yoruba religion and system of divination. Its literary corpus is the ''Odu Ifá''. Orunmila is identified as the Grand Priest, as he revealed divinity and prophecy to the world. Babalawos or Iyanifas use either the divining chain kno ...
tradition of the
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
. The suit sought a court order requiring that the program not identify Asanti as a voodoo priestess. The group dropped the suit two months later after the network agreed to add a disclaimer to its website.
See also
*
Vampire film
*
List of vampire television series
Notes
References
* Cassingham, Randy (2006). ''The True Stella Awards''. Penguin. .
External links
Official Website (via Internet Archive)*
{{Syfy Shows
2000s American reality television series
2004 American television series debuts
2004 American television series endings
Syfy original programming